A sudden rush from the side road
Driving on the road really does require eyes everywhere and ears open in every direction. A moment of carelessness can easily turn into trouble that never needed to happen.
Yesterday around noon, I was driving normally along a village road. When I reached a small crossroads, there was a car parked near the junction, blocking my view on the right. Just as I was about to pass through, a woman on a small electric scooter suddenly shot out from the side road on my right.
She was fully covered for sun protection: sun-protective clothing, a sun hat, and sunglasses. The moment I saw her rush out, I reacted instinctively and stepped on the brake. Fortunately, I was not driving fast, and the car stopped in time.
It looked like she had originally intended to turn left, but after seeing my car, she quickly grabbed the handlebars and went straight across the road instead, disappearing into another small alley.
Since there was no collision, I let out a breath of relief. Still, I rolled down the window, stared at her, and asked sharply, “How are you riding? Don’t you slow down and check the road when passing an intersection?”
She glanced at me, said nothing, and slipped away in embarrassment.
A timer switch for the monitor
The surveillance monitor at home has always been left on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. During the day, I might glance at it from time to time, but late at night everyone is asleep and the screen is still running. It feels like a bit of a waste.
Sometimes I remember to turn off the monitor before going to bed, then turn it back on the next morning. But honestly, doing that over and over is a little annoying.
Then I suddenly thought of using a timer switch. After searching online, I found one that seemed suitable and bought it. It only cost a little over ten yuan. According to the manual, it only needs to be set once, and then it repeats the schedule automatically.
Right now I have it set to cut power from 20:00 to 8:00. Outside that time period, the power stays on. After using it for the past two days, I’m quite satisfied. The time difference is not obvious, and I no longer need to switch the monitor on and off manually.
This also solves another small problem: the monitor’s own power button has become a bit unreliable, and sometimes it takes several presses to work. With the timer switch in place, that issue is basically avoided, and some unnecessary electricity use is saved as well. Nice.
